Astros turning to former franchise cornerstone to fill glaring third base hole

After losing third baseman Isaac Paredes to a devastating injury, the Houston Astros needed to fortify their corner infield position before Thursday's 6 p.m. ET trade deadline.

MLB Network's Jon Morosi reported that Correa will play third base going forward.

On Wednesday, Nightengale shared that the Astros front office had inquired about Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman Eugenio Suarez and St. Louis Cardinals Nolan Arenado, along with Correa.

AL West-rival Seattle Mariners, five games back of the first-place Astros, added Suarez late Wednesday. Arenado had previously declined to waive his no-trade clause in a potential offseason trade to Houston, making Correa, who Nightengale noted still spends his offseason in the area, a much more logical trade target.

While it won't take Correa any time at all to familiarize himself with the Astros, who he spent his first seven seasons with, he could face a steeper learning curve at third.

As a fielder, the 11-year MLB veteran has only played shortstop during his career. A midseason pennant push might not seem like the ideal time to experiment with a position change, but Correa is hardly the first player to make a switch from shortstop to third, which might make the shift more seamless.

Correa is in the midst of arguably his worst season but is still hitting a respectable .267. His power numbers are down, but he should benefit from Daikin Park's short left-field porch. Per Baseball Savant, Correa still has an above-average hard-hit rate (47.4 percent) and average exit velocity (91.1 mph).

He's not the same player he was the last time he suited up for the Astros in 2021, when he led the AL in position WAR (7.3), but Houston doesn't need that version of Correa to be successful.

Jeremy Pena has blossomed into of the AL's best shortstops since taking over for Correa in 2022. This season, he's slashing .322/.378/.489 with 11 home runs, 40 runs batted in (RBI) and 48 runs scored through 82 games. Rookie right fielder Cam Smith, 22, has gotten off to a promising pro start, hitting .258 in his first 94 career appearances.

Overall, Astros batters are hitting .257 this season, second-best in the majors, behind the AL East-leading Toronto Blue Jays.

Earlier Thursday, Houston further fortified its infield by acquiring Ramon Urias from the Baltimore Orioles. This season, he's turned a league-leading 18 double plays at third base.

The Astros also added left-handed outfielder Jesus Sanchez. He's hitting .256 with 10 home runs this season. Per FanGraphs, Houston entered Thursday as MLB's worst left-handed batting team with a .209 average and five home runs in 270 plate appearances.

The Astros (62-47) are in a much better position after the trade deadline than before it. Houston is hoping the same can be said of Correa as he transitions to third.